Sigh.
So close, yet so far.
For more than half of Sunday’s contest, Georgetown outplayed the 11th-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers. The Hoyas ultimately ran out of gas, as the Mountaineers turned the tide of the game in the final seven minutes en route to an 80-71 victory. Georgetown’s Jahvon Blair led all scorers with 19 points, but it was West Virginia’s Miles “Deuce” McBride who stole the show as the Mountaineers handed the Hoyas their second consecutive loss.
In the early going, the Hoyas came out playing with energy and matched the Mountaineers step for step. Georgetown surprisingly dominated the paint and controlled the rebounding battle in the first half thanks to strong, aggressive play from both Qudus Wahab and Tim Ighoefe.
Georgetown’s two seven-footers were similarly aggressive on the offensive end. It was clearly a point of emphasis to attack West Virginia’s bigs, and this was successful, as Mountaineers star forward Derek Culver racked up two early fouls.
With Culver limited to just four minutes in the first half, West Virginia was forced to adapt their offensive attack. Sophomore guard Miles McBride picked up much of the slack, leading all scorers with 11 first half points. McBride was a problem all evening for the Hoyas, finishing the game with 17 points, 7 assists and 7 rebounds to pace the Mountaineers in all three categories. West Virginia Head Coach Bob Huggins praised McBride’s play, saying after the game, “He’s a smart kid, he’s a great kid, he listens and tries to do what you ask him to do, and consequently he continues to get better.”
Offensively, the Hoyas successfully utilized an inside-out attack. Georgetown’s dominance down low allowed for open looks for the Hoyas’ three-point shooters. Despite shooting just 36.7% from the field in the first half, the Hoyas were a respectable 6 of 18 from three-point range, including a clutch three from Chudier Bile with under 10 seconds to play before the break. Overall, it would be hard to ask for much more than to head to the locker room with a two-point lead over the 11th-ranked team in the country.
The Hoyas came out of the locker room ready to play and prove that the first half was not a flash in the pan. Jahvon Blair caught fire from three-point, rattling home big shot after big shot.
Blair finished the game with 19 points, including five three pointers, on seven for 16 shooting. The Hoyas’ hot start to the half was capped off by a Ighoefe lay-up to put Georgetown up six, their largest lead of the game, with 13:33 to play.
The Mountaineers responded with a quick 10-0 run of their own to reclaim the lead. I’ll give credit where credit is due; the Hoyas did not fold (at least not yet). The lead see-sawed back-and-forth between the two teams, with Ighoefe ultimately converting an and-one dunk and the ensuing free throw to put Georgetown back up by two with 7:36 left.
From this point forward, it was all West Virginia. The Mountaineers kicked things into another gear, taking advantage of multiple Georgetown miscues en route to a 16-4 run that broke the game open. West Virginia forward Emmitt Matthews capped off this run with a dagger three pointer that put his team up 10 with under two minutes to play, essentially ending all hope of an upset victory for Georgetown.
During the Mountaineers’ crucial run, it was turnovers and wasted possessions that ultimately broke the Hoyas’ back. On the night, Georgetown turned the ball over 15 times, compared to just five turnovers for West Virginia. In the postgame press conference, Coach Ewing was visibly not pleased with his team’s sloppy play, commenting, “We can’t continue to turn the ball over at this alarming rate.” On how the Hoyas could correct the issue, Ewing was at a loss for answers. “I’m not even sure what to do to fix it. We talk about it, we watch film, we drill on things- they just gotta make better decisions.”
Wahab’s presence was also sorely missed down low, as he sat for nine minutes in the second half after getting into foul trouble. Wahab finished the night with nine points, nine rebounds, three blocks and a team-leading plus-minus of +2. In fact, he was the only Hoya with a positive plus-minus. Put simply, Georgetown is a different team when Qudus is on the floor. Moving forward, he will need to find a way to defend without fouling if the Hoyas are to be at their best.
Interestingly, freshman forward Kobe Clark did not see the floor today, with Ewing opting to give graduate transfer Chudier Bile extended run instead. While Bile did chip in 10 points, his shot selection was questionable at times and he committed three costly turnovers. When asked after the game whether he would consider giving his younger players more playing time, Ewing did not offer much of an answer, saying, “I’m not sure what I’m going to do yet.”
Given the sour ending in today’s loss, it’s tough to view this one as a moral victory. On a positive note, the Hoyas did show hustle, physicality and improved defense in hanging with the 11th-ranked team in the country for 30+ minutes. However, it is abundantly clear that the Hoyas still have plenty to work on before entering the gauntlet that is Big East conference play. Their final opportunity for a non-conference tune-up comes on Tuesday night when Georgetown hosts Coppin State. Until then, Hoya fans will be left wondering what could have been after yet another close game slipped away in the final minutes.
